Designing an Effective PowerPoint:
Quick Guide
Purdue OWL staff
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab
The Rhetorical Situation
When designing a PowerPoint, consider the project’s
 Topic
 Purpose
 Audience
 Presentation length
Drafting
A to-do list before you get started:
 Decide what you are going to include in the
PowerPoint
 In a Word file, draft the titles of each section/slide
 Pick images / tables / charts you are going to use and
save them in a separate folder or file.
 Consider the time it would take to present each slide;
pick only the most important information.
Arrangement
Decide how you want to organize your PowerPoint
Possible organization strategies:
 Overview, Body, Conclusion
 Anecdote, Content, Conclusion
 Plan, Benefits, Anecdote
Getting Started
1.
Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
2.
Save your file: File > Save as.
3.
Later save your progress by
clicking Save or press Ctrl + S.
4.
A new file will automatically
have a Title slide.
Getting Started
5.
Next, add new slides:
Home > New Slide
Pick the type of slide
you need.
6.
If you want to, you
can modify the
chosen template to
fit your content.
Getting Started
7.
Use an empty slide or the PowerPoint Insert tab to
add tables, graphics, charts, diagrams, or formulas.
This will make formatting your PowerPoint easier.
Design
8.
Chose an appropriate theme for your presentation
in the Design tab or browse the Microsoft Office
website for more themes.
Transitions and
Animations
Transition - an effect that determines how slides
progressively show up on the screen, e.g. Cut, Fade,
Push, Wipe, etc.
Animation - an effect that determines in which order and
how elements of a slide appear on the screen, e.g.
Appear, Fade, Fly In, Float In, etc.
Creating Transitions
1. Select the slide you wish to edit
2. Go to Transitions, select transition from the dropdown menu; adjust Duration time if needed.
Creating Animations
1. Select a slide element (title, graph, paragraph, word)
2. Go to Animations, select animation from the dropdown menu or click Add Animation.
3. Open the Animation Pane for more settings.
Presentation Preview
When previewing your presentation, pay attention to:

Text on each slide (the less text the better)

Clarity of ideas and logical organization

How fast the text or slides appear

Font and format consistency

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation
Presentation Preview
Finally, preview and time your presentation:
Go to Slide Show > From Beginning or Rehearse
Timings
Contrast
To highlight important information in your presentation,
try using different font formats to create contrast.
Size Contrast
Color Contrast
Type Contrast
However, remember to be consistent.
Save Your Presentation
You can save your file as a

regular PowerPoint document, and

a slide show (see Notes for details)
Go to File > Save as >
(Select save location) >
Save as type >
PowerPoint Show
Exterior Content
Exterior Content - Everything in your presentation other
than your PowerPoint.
The best presentations include practiced hand gestures,
polished verbal delivery, and some form of crowd
interaction.
Exterior Content Help
TIPS:



Use your PowerPoint as an aid to your presentation,
not as your presentation
Be sure that your Exterior Content and your Interior
Content are different
Know your presentation space and execute your
gestures and volume accordingly
Where to Go
for More Help
Purdue University Writing Lab, Heavilon 226
Check our web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu
Email brief questions to OWL Mail:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/writinglab/topic/owlmail/
The End
DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE
POWERPOINT: QUICK GUIDE
Purdue OWL staff
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab